No word yet on what time (the show runs from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. daily) the debate will take place or what the topics and rules might be.

Teachout of course isn’t a shoo-in to face Astorino in the general election in November. First, she’ll have to face Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary Sept. 9.

The news comes less than a week after the Astorino camp questioned if Cuomo’s silence on if he’ll debate Teachout and Astorino is because his legal team has advised him against debating or if it’s because he’s just acting like a “total jerk.”

Hey Andrew: Pay attention. This is how political elections are held. Debate the issues and let the voters decide. You won’t garner any votes hiding from the public or startegizing in a room with 3 old men. Your list of “Accomplishments” are coming under scrutiny( the ghost supporter lie about funding for nanotech) your staff is jumping ship left and right and you are currently feeling the hot breath of Preet Bahara breathing down your neck while being investigated. Do you really think contolling the polls and hiding out from the public is your best move right now? Oh and btw, paterson is going to blow this election for you if you don’t get him off your ad campaign. Noone liked him anyways and now the truths are coming out about his role and the distaste is even more bitter this time around. I said long ago before Paterson left office he was doing Cuomos dirty work and it would be interesting to see where he landed after his joke of a term as the accidental governor. Now we know. Your policies are failing, your transparency is clouded with milky blurred lines, your promisies are unfulfilled, and you are still under investigation. Might wanna debate these 2 individuals. otherwise they will be the talking point come the next morning not you. if you can’t debate, your future is doomed.

The bulk of the voters in this state decide based on either the last attack ad they saw, or what they “think” a candidate gave them. One of those two had better show up with a CCC (cardboard Cuomo cutout) to stand in for “the steamroller” and then trash the hell out of him.

This is a wise move by Astorino. It gives both himself and Teachout more visibility in the media, and it also raises Teachout visibility right before the primary. As they have said, even if she doesn’t beat Cuomo, she can still embarass him. That would weaken him in the general election.

@BrianLeher,
I hope you point out at least a hundred times that Cuomo refused to debate. before every question you should mention there will be no response from the governor because of his refusal to debate.

It will be interested to see which one uses more “talking points” and well used/rehearsed ideological positions in answer to the complex problems of our times. We’ll see just how bold and committed to change Teachout actually is, Zephyr may just surprise us and if so, Andrew could be in some trouble. However, Astorino could just tie her in knots regarding the Safe Act issues… to the delight of single issue voters. The key may be the moderator and whether he/she runs an honest “debate”.. ..instead of “just answers” approach the national elections take… what a boring spectacle. I’ll be interested in which one demonstrates the keener intellect.

Canton Cuomo…especially if he cannot show up and answer questions about his record-or articulate his plans for the next four years. One reason Cuomo cannot engage in a debate is his commercials have greatly exaggerated and distorted what has com e on the past four years. No NY Democratic voter should be willing to support someone who is bought and paid for by hedge fund billionaires and large NYC real estate interests. Vote for a true Democratic candidate–REACH OUT TO READ YOUR!!!

““The question in a Democratic primary and the question in a general election is whether the candidate represents the views and values of the state or, in this case, the Democratic values of the state,” she said.”
>
There is what we will get from a Teachout/Wu government. “Democratic”, and that means THEIR “Democratic” values. Left of moderaterates, both Democrat and Republican. their idea of “progressive”. Her words, from her announcement of their expose of Hochul. So anyone that does not want 4 more years of Kuomo has one choice, if they want rational governance, and representation for all New Yorkers. I hope she defeats Kuomo. But for the good of ALL New Yorkers, the only answer is Astorino/Moss 2014!!!

Howie Hawkins is polling at 7%. Last poll showed Teachout no more well known than Hawkins. Hawkins is closer to Astorino in polls than Astorino is to Cuomo. Hawkins is a ballot qualified candidate. Teachout isn’t in the general election at this point. So what kind of debate is this? Randy Credico is also in the Democratic primary and he too is excluded. Open the debate. New Yorkers want to hear what the Left has to say.

I think Andy is in a catch 22 position. These two people will confront him with topics that he will not answer. If he stays a no show that will not look good either. Either way he loses. My guess he will be a no show and flood the airwaves with bs of what great things he has done. Truth is we are still over taxed, mandated, ect. and the state just gets more and more corrupt. That is what most people see. Andy better hope the Feds don’t find anything before Election Day it will not be pretty.

Bob Brown says: “What we need is someone who has, small d, democratic values, representing all of us.”
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The problem is, we have a Big Money system of campaign financing that produces elected officials of all parties that are beholden to their patrons more than to their voters. This system is so corrupt that even the well-intentioned get caught up in it, directly or indirectly. We’ll never have true representation as long as we have Big Money financing campaigns.

Erik:
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Hawkins polls at about 10% currently. If that holds, that’ll be a couple hundred thousand votes.
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I’d say he has indeed earned a seat at the debate table with numbers like that.
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I would agree that joke candidates like McMillan don’t belong in a debate, but Hawkins most certainly does. The only reason for anyone to object to his participation is that they are afraid of his message becoming even more popular.
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As his message is the antithesis to everything the regressives stand for, your objections to his participation are noted – and duly dismissed.

How long will it take for New Yorkers to see that politics drives everything. The tax breaks for Hollywood film production and real estate developers and others were all done to fuel $35 million in campaign contributions. The refusal to debate (hiding behind the “I’ll leave that decision to the campaign”) is laughable. This Governor leaves nothing to others – he controls everything himself! The claim that the Moreland Commission was independent (they can “follow the money”, they can investigate anyone) while behind the scenes one Cuomo plant is leaking information and Cuomo’s top staffer is telling the Moreland people not to subpoena Cuomo donors). Then Cuomo says “it’s my Commission, I can’t tamper with it, because it’s mine.” The promise to veto any redistricting bill that is not a fair, independent, reform and then breaking that promise. The list goes on and on. This Governor will say and do anything that he thinks furthers his self-interest. That is why Zephyr Teachout will stun people in September. She may not win, but the race will be far closer than anyone predicted.

It is unfortunate that the televised debate will not include Green Party candidate Hawkins. Hopefully, following the primary, there will be a three-way debate among Hawkins, Cuomo, and Astorino.

New York leads the nation in population exit, and it has done so for decades. The reasons are overregulation, excessive taxes, bloat in government, and legalized corruption. Twenty years ago I briefly worked for the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. What I witnessed was legalized thievery. This is a state where government is on sale.

Andrew Cuomo is the natural product of that corruption. He pulled the plug on the Moreland Act commission when it began to uncover information damaging to him, and he has been running defamatory attack ads that are outright lies about Astorino. He has no interest in debating because he has little to show on his behalf. He needs to resort to lies. His nonsensical economic stimulus program, to establish tax credits for handpicked firms that locate on eight SUNY campuses, has been a pretext for even worse corruption.

He spent $200 million advertising the tax-credit plan around the country. The ads were ads for Cuomo’s presidential bid rather than for New York. This,again, is legalized thievery.

It is difficult for me to understand how New Yorkers decided to elect Cuomo in the first place. His chief claim to fame prior to being governor was his creation, in the early 1990s, of the subprime lending mandate that led to the financial collapse of 2008. The man is a sociopathic destroyer. It saddens me that New York, a state in which I have lived for 60 years, has sunk to Cuomo’s low level.

Chester:
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Did people take Howard the Duck seriously because he uses Howard instead of Howie?
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Seems a non-issue to me. After all, many people took a guy name “Mitt” seriously – and that’s a pretentious wealthy persons name most people would rag on if I ever heard one.
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The only way to get more pretentious is to call your daughter “Miffy.”

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